Card Images from the Twenty-Two Keys of the Tarot

Twenty-Two Keys of the Tarot review by Jessica Shanahan

This is my first and most magical Tarot deck. In 1999, knowing little to nothing about tarot cards, I walked into an occult bookstore to purchase a deck that might help me with an illustration project— I wanted to make a deck myself. I thought it would be a good way to pass the time. I poured over a photo album with samples of cards from numerous decks and found nothing that spoke to me until I saw a little, hand-written booklet with a picture of a red lion on the cover and the words “Twenty-Two Keys of the Tarot” inside. Trembling slightly, I asked the man at the register if he might have the deck to that book. He disappeared, eventually returning with an off-white box containing 22 cards. “This has been here forever,” he said. I asked the price. He told me to name one. I paid.